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140.
‘There is one principle, Athenians,
which I hold to through everything, and that is the principle of no
concession to the Peloponnesians.
I know that the spirit which inspires men while they are being persuaded to
make war, is not always retained in action; that as circumstances change, resolutions change.
Yet I see that now as before the same, almost literally the same, counsel
is demanded of me; and I put it to those of you, who are allowing yourselves to be persuaded,
to support the national resolves even in the case of reverses, or to forfeit
all credit for their wisdom in the event of success.
For sometimes the course of things is as arbitrary as the plans of man; indeed this is why we usually blame chance for whatever does not happen as
we expected.
[2]
Now it was clear before, that Lacedaemon entertained designs against us; it is still more clear now.
The treaty provides that we shall mutually submit our differences to legal
settlement, and that we shall meanwhile each keep what we have.
Yet the Lacedaemonians never yet made us any such offer, never yet would
accept from us any such offer; on the contrary, they wish complaints to be settled by war instead of by
negotiation; and in the end we find them here dropping the tone of expostulation and
adopting that of command.
[3]
They order us to raise the siege of Potidaea, to let Aegina be independent,
to revoke the Megara decree; and they conclude with an ultimatum warning us to leave the Hellenes
independent.
[4]
I hope that you will none of you think that we shall be going to war for a
trifle if we refuse to revoke the Megara decree, which appears in front of
their complaints, and the revocation of which is to save us from war, or let
any feeling of self-reproach linger in your minds, as if you went to war for
slight cause.
[5]
Why, this trifle contains the whole seal and trial of your resolution.
If you give way, you will instantly have to meet some greater demand, as
having been frightened into obedience in the first instance; while a firm refusal will make them clearly understand that they must treat
you more as equals.
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References (51 total)
- Commentary references to this page
(16):
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus Tyrannus, 1-150
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus Tyrannus, 863-910
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Antigone, 632
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Antigone, 677
- Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Antigone, 80
- W. W. How, J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus, 7.9B
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 2, 2.5
- E.C. Marchant, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 3, 3.53
- T. G. Tucker, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 8, 8.2
- T. G. Tucker, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 8, 8.81
- T. G. Tucker, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 8, 8.83
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 4, CHAPTER CXVIII
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.18
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.27
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.80
- C.E. Graves, Commentary on Thucydides: Book 5, 5.89
- Cross-references to this page
(5):
- Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges, THE CASES
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 1.3.1
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 3.1.3
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 3.5.3
- Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, KG 3.6.1
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(30):
- LSJ, ἄν
- LSJ, ἀμαθ-ής
- LSJ, ἀπισχυ_ρ-ίζομαι
- LSJ, ἀπολι^γωρέω
- LSJ, βεβαί-ωσις
- LSJ, διαλύω
- LSJ, ἔγ-κλημα
- LSJ, ἔχω
- LSJ, ἐπιτάσσω
- LSJ, ἐρῶ
- LSJ, ἐσφαλμένως
- LSJ, καθαιρ-έω
- LSJ, λόγος
- LSJ, μεταποι-έω
- LSJ, ὀργή
- LSJ, πεῖρα
- LSJ, πολεμέω
- LSJ, προα^γορ-εύω
- LSJ, προέχω
- LSJ, προσφέρω
- LSJ, σα^φής
- LSJ, σφάλλω
- LSJ, συγχωρ-έω
- LSJ, συμβουλ-ευτέος
- LSJ, συμφορ-ά
- LSJ, τάσσω
- LSJ, τρέπω
- LSJ, ὑπολείπω
- LSJ, χωρ-έω
- LSJ, ψήφ-ισμα
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